I didn’t make a new year’s post last night because I was far too busy playing card games with my family and laughing until it hurt. I think that’s a good thing, don’t you?
2023 was…a year for me. I finished high school, got a job, briefly had two jobs, started college, learned I don’t really like college (yet!!), got Reese back, and got into the pre-major of my dreams. Wild!
I really do love getting to randomly get a hard reset like this. People need arbitrary and technically unimportant rituals. They make us happy! The sudden magic of “nothing counts. blank slate.” is super nice. That said, there’s one thing I do that some people get mad at me for.
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions.
I think the sudden pressure of a ton of ways you’re going to overhaul your life actually gives you decision paralysis and makes it way harder to even start those things in the first place.
I kind of just choose to do stuff when it strikes me and then go from there. If I randomly decide in March that I’m not going to go to bed late anymore, I’ll just start then. In March. I’ve never made a resolution and then stuck to it just because I made it during New Year’s, so I figure it’s a waste of time if I’m just going to continue to try and improve my life as my life unfolds.
Time for…2023 BREAKDOWN OF FAVORITES AND ALSO LAME STUFF THAT HAPPENED TOO
COOL STUFF THAT HAPPENED
- Finished high school with great grades–all A’s, an academic letter in art, a perfect score in AP art (complete with an email telling me I earned every point possible and was part of about 300 people worldwide who did)
- Worked at my favorite job, Blickenstaffs
- Got into BYU and completed their nightmare process of like nine essays
- Hung out with my family a lot, especially my lovely lovely mother
- Went to Mexico with my dad, which was probably one of the coolest things I’ll ever do in my life
- Saw lots of fun movies, (I LOVE MOVIE THEATERS!! NEVER LET THEM DIE) especially with friends. Addy and I going to see Insidious 5 at like midnight and being the only ones there was a highlight for sure
- Started this blog to cope with the bad parts of college and also to document my life in a fun and accessible way
- Made friends with Izzy, one of my roommates and just a genuinely cool person I’d be friends with even if we weren’t
- Got to fuel my dinosaur obsession with a dinosaur class and got tons of cool dinosaur stuff like t-shirts, skull models, lamps, and stuffed animals
- Started working at Milk and Cookies which means I get lots of cookies and boba after work
- Got into the animation pre-major after worrying myself sick that I wouldn’t
- Had fun in the animation lab working on projects that I’m sure I’ll see whenever I close my eyes now
- Reese came home!
and many many more, that I’m sure I just can’t remember right now
Lame Stuff That We Will Simply Acknowledge and Move On Without Wallowing
- Hard time making friends at BYU
- Speaking of–BYU. Very cliquey place and I miss living at home
- Hi, climate change! The weather is weird all the time now
- Pretty much constant college stress
- In and out of a brace for my severe wrist pain
and many many more that don’t need to be remembered
Anyway! That was an extremely watered down recounting of my year from memory, as I sit on my bed and type this as fast as possible so I can go and hang out with my family some more.
May 2024 bring me hope, prosperity, the blood of my enemies, and new friends and experiences to enjoy!
And as the Mountain Goats once so wisely said, “I am gonna make it through this year, if it kills me!”
January 1, 2024
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